I have a Ruger AR-556, 16" barrel, 1:8 twist. I like the rifle a lot, and have installed a Timney 2-stage trigger. Now I would like to upgrade the scope on it. As a package, it came with a low-end (cheap) 2-6 power scope. But the scope is pretty low grade, and has a fair amount of parallax. Locked down, you can watch the cross hairs move left to right as you move your eye-sight axis left to right.

I'm used to nice scopes on standard bolt-action hunting rifles, but not that familiar with what works best on an AR platform, so I figured I'd ask the experts here on the forum. I tried searching the forum, but didn't see anything that answered my questions.

Looking for suggestions on a scope that won't break my pocketbook. In 2-4 or 2-6 zoom range. Maybe with lighted dot reticle. Bullet drop compensator would be nice, but not mandatory. Primary use would be target shooting out to 200 yards, some hunting.

What's your budget? I use a Leupold vx-2 on one of my AR's and a Redfield Revolution on another. I used both out to 300 but I'm currently trying to get better at 200 and they work great there. I got the Leupold for $200 and the revolution for $100

I'd second the Vortex 1-8x StrikeEagle as the minimum for the quality of that trigger. But I wouldn't bother spending more unless you're interested in shooting at really extended ranges.....like past 600 yards, which your carbine isn't really suited for anyway. The StrikeEagle's reticle subtends to 600 yards, so that's about perfect.

"Give me Liberty, or I'll get up and get it myself."—Hookalakah Meshobbab"I don't carry because of the odds, I carry because of the stakes."—The Annoyed Boy"Id aegre et in omnibus semper."—Quod Homo Aegre

Thanks, everyone. I've decided on the Nikon P223 per cmgee67's recommendation. I have a Nikon on my Rem 700CDL in .25-06, and really like the Nikon quality. The Vortex Strike Eagle looks really nice, but that's a bit more that I wanted to spend, and I would have had to get another mount for it. The Nikon has a 1" tube, same as my current scope, so I can reuse the existing mount. Ordered the Nikon from Midway, should arrive Tuesday.

I have the Burris XTR-2 1-5X with similar reticle but no man-tall ranging stadia. However, it has Target Turrets. So you can dial and shoot or use the BDC for and score hits up 500 yards. It is more expensive and now there is 1-8X model

n5wmk wrote:Thanks, everyone. I've decided on the Nikon P223 per cmgee67's recommendation. I have a Nikon on my Rem 700CDL in .25-06, and really like the Nikon quality. The Vortex Strike Eagle looks really nice, but that's a bit more that I wanted to spend, and I would have had to get another mount for it. The Nikon has a 1" tube, same as my current scope, so I can reuse the existing mount. Ordered the Nikon from Midway, should arrive Tuesday.

As a follow up on this, I did get the Nikon P223 and it's installed and sighted in. The reticle is designed for zero at 100 yards, then it has the graduations for 200 to 600 yards below the crosshairs. I boresighted it first at about 20 feet, putting the reticle about 2.5 inches above the bore. Then I took it to Bullet Trap which only has 25 yards. Used a ballistic calculator to determine the 25 yards sight-in, and got it set within 5 rounds. My final 10 rounds at 25 yards I could cover with a dime. I did my final tweaking at 100 yards, and was able to get 1.5" groups at 100 yards. I haven't had a chance to shoot beyond 100 yards yet. I do like the scope, and I thank everyone here for recommendations. BTW, the Timney 2-stage trigger is really nice!

mupepe wrote:What's your budget? I use a Leupold vx-2 on one of my AR's and a Redfield Revolution on another. I used both out to 300 but I'm currently trying to get better at 200 and they work great there. I got the Leupold for $200 and the revolution for $100

Which VX-2 do you have? The 1-4x20mm? I just ordered that one for my 16” AR15 and am anxious to see how it works for me at 200 yds.

n5wmk wrote:Thanks, everyone. I've decided on the Nikon P223 per cmgee67's recommendation. I have a Nikon on my Rem 700CDL in .25-06, and really like the Nikon quality. The Vortex Strike Eagle looks really nice, but that's a bit more that I wanted to spend, and I would have had to get another mount for it. The Nikon has a 1" tube, same as my current scope, so I can reuse the existing mount. Ordered the Nikon from Midway, should arrive Tuesday.